tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post6113033052903058469..comments2024-03-06T02:46:19.929+00:00Comments on Translation Tribulations: Dirty Data DeedsKevin Lossnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727800526216764023noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-83331706253325890132009-07-20T08:54:20.250+01:002009-07-20T08:54:20.250+01:00@Sonja: If you are right about only these data bei...@Sonja: If you are right about only these data being retained by ProZ for purposes of keeping the forum threads straight or attributing an article or whatever, I don't see that as a problem, and I would support Henry & Co. on that score.<br /><br />However, I don't think you can judge the data actually stored at ProZ by what appeared on the other site. My data were also fairly minimal there, but after the incident in India last year where my entire profile was swiped and some grinning foreign face added to it along with Indian telephone numbers, I am a bit touchy about any of my data appearing in a place that I have not put it or permitted it to be placed.<br /><br />We'll see what staff says. Henry's initial response last night was reasonable. It's obviously in his interests to get to the bottom of this - you may have noticed that eLance got raided too. There was a newspaper article (Washington Post? I forget, have to look it up on the Twitter feed) last night.Kevin Lossnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14727800526216764023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-38554494432178456692009-07-20T08:46:03.052+01:002009-07-20T08:46:03.052+01:00I see that this has attracted a lot of attention o...I see that this has attracted a lot of attention on Proz.com, so I would like to clarify one or two things here (since I cannot write to Proz.com forums).<br /><br />I checked my information once more on that site, and it appears that all they have about me is:<br />Proz.com login name, full name, city, country. <br />They have no details about my language pairs, nor do they have my e-mail address or anything else that I had entered into my Proz.com profile.<br /><br />I think the reason why Proz stores this information is to keep forum postings of former members linked to their names. If you go through Proz.com's fora, you'll see that postings of former members still show their name and location, sometimes with a picture if they had one on their profile site, and can only be distinguished from active members by 'xxx' in front of their names. I don't know if this counts as violation of data protection laws or not. <br /><br />Personally, if I had the choice, I would rather have <b>all</b> my information removed from Proz.com, and my name next to forum postings replaced by an anonymous label (such as 'former member' or 'guest' or 'visitor'; this is what I have seen in other fora). Since I am no longer a Proz.com member, I don't think my voice will be heard.Sonjanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-62278112660245047692009-07-19T20:14:06.171+01:002009-07-19T20:14:06.171+01:00Geez, talk about done dirt cheap. I hope you don&#...Geez, talk about done dirt cheap. I hope you don't mind if I cite my comment here, because it's only a matter of time before it gets deleted: <br /><br /><i>Marie-Claude Falardeau wrote:<br />But how did OutsourcingRoom obtain such information, if not through a breach in security?</i><br /><br /><b>It's interesting to note that proz.com set up an office in the Ukraine a year or so (?) ago, and outsourcingroom is also based in the Ukraine. Makes the proz.com invoicing tool look even more attractive, doesn't it? For the record, I found my username at that website too, but with just my city and country, no other details.</b><br /><br />(end of quote)<br /><br />In case that was too subtle, I believe the situation could be much more sinister, i.e. they may have SOLD or otherwise given away the data. IMO it ain't a coincidence that the company has offices in places like Venezuela and the Ukraine.Michelenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-88245176928178730132009-07-19T17:28:05.035+01:002009-07-19T17:28:05.035+01:00@Madeleine: I don't know where the servers are...@Madeleine: I don't know where the servers are these days and which laws would apply, but even if not directly illegal I would say it is ethically dubious. The servers could be in that same <a href="http://simmer-lossner.blogspot.com/2009/03/would-you-like-date-with-that.html" rel="nofollow">Ukrainian office that offers all the hot women for sale</a> AFAIK. And I wonder how safe the credit card transaction data for ProZ renewals are.Kevin Lossnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14727800526216764023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-40616432570086971912009-07-19T17:05:45.481+01:002009-07-19T17:05:45.481+01:00Hmm - I don't know about the US data protectio...Hmm - I don't know about the US data protection regulation, but I recently had to take an "exam" on UK data protection law (should be similar in most of EU) and something I clearly remember is that you can only hold data as long as it's relevant to your business operations in relation to that person. <br /><br />That Proz hasn't deleted Sonja's data after almost 2 years seems like a clear breach of these rules (assuming regulation is similar in the US).Madeleinenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-51195754856132281862009-07-19T16:41:38.547+01:002009-07-19T16:41:38.547+01:00Fascinating. So what you are telling me, Sonja, is...Fascinating. So what you are telling me, Sonja, is that ProZ keeps files on former users/members long after they are gone? Very interesting.Kevin Lossnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14727800526216764023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-36750187244234447342009-07-19T16:10:21.755+01:002009-07-19T16:10:21.755+01:00Thank you for this posting, Kevin. I took the oppo...Thank you for this posting, Kevin. I took the opportunity to look up my data on this site, and lo and behold - even though I left Proz.com almost two years ago, I am in their database!!!! What I found definitely points to Proz.com's system. It even shows my login name that I only used on Proz.com, preceded by 'xxx', which means that they got hold of the data after I've left Proz. Very disturbing!Sonjanoreply@blogger.com